December 21, 2022, U.S. Attorney Damien Williams announced that the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang. Williams declared that both Ellison and Wang were cooperating with law enforcement officials. indicted on “Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang accept responsibility,” the CFTC said in a statement Wednesday.
Wang and Ellison are cooperating with law enforcement
US Attorney Damian Williams and SDNY Department of Justice (DOJ) accused the government of fraud It opposed FTX co-founder Gary Wang and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, who announced that they had filed indictments against them.
“Both [Ellison and Wang] pleaded guilty to [the charges],” Williams told the press. “And they’re both working with [SDNY]. Let me repeat the call I made last week. If you’ve been complicit in cheating on FTX or Alameda, now’s the time to get ahead.”
Williams added, “[Law enforcement] moves fast and our patience is not forever.” Williams also told the press that FTX co-founder Sam Bankman Freed (SBF) is currently in custody with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). ” Williams emphasized.
The attorney said SBF said he would be transferred to SDNY District and appear before a judge “as soon as possible.” “Many people in the Bahamas and the United States contributed to the defendant’s swift return,” Williams said. US attorneys thanked the Bahamas for their assistance with the investigation.
SEC and CFTC follow his SDNY lead
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also indicted Wang and Ellison on Wednesday.
“Ellison, at Bankman-Fried’s direction, manipulated the price of FTT, an exchange cryptocurrency security token issued by FTX, and purchased large amounts on the open market to maintain its price. We furthered the scheme by doing so,” the SEC Press Statement clarified. “FTT served as collateral for a private loan by FTX of client assets to Alameda, a crypto hedge fund owned by Wang and Bankman-Fried and operated by Ellison.” SEC Adds:
Ellison and Wang are cooperating with the SEC’s ongoing investigation.
CFTC claims show that Wang enhanced his Alameda Research by adding special features to his FTX’s code. “As alleged in the amended complaint, Wang created a feature in the underlying code of his FTX trading platform that allowed Alameda to maintain an essentially unlimited line of credit on his FTX. ” he said the CFTC on Wednesday.
“Ellison and Wang do not contest liability for the CFTC’s claims,” he added. “Both companies have agreed to enter into consent orders for liability for fraudulent conduct in violation of Section 6(c)(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC Rule 180.1.”
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